Chapter 4 #2
“Freedom?” He snorted. “I have not had freedom since I was in leading strings, and that freedom does not come now.”
“You are a duke.”
“And you think that means I can do whatever I please?” He leaned in closer still, boxing her against the sofa.
The scent of soap and cotton, of whatever musky scent he used, surrounded her. Her heart thudded in her chest, both at his proximity and the anger she saw simmering in his eyes. Not specifically at her, but certainly at his circumstances.
Oh no, he did not want to be here, sparring with her, or engaged to be married to her, or wanting anything to do with her.
Perhaps he had not even wanted the title at all.
“If you think that of the world,” he murmured, his gaze skimming across her eyes, her nose, her mouth, “then no wonder you thought it possible to care for William yourself.”
“Are you calling me na?ve, sir?”
“Of course I am.” His gaze, hot now, dragged back up to hers, and she felt something loosen in the pit of her stomach. “Your ignorance has meant we are now bound together.”
“Not yet. I have yet to marry you.”
“Oh, and you’ll go back on your word?” His voice was low and dangerous.
No. There was no way she could refuse now, not if she wanted to keep William.
“No, Your Grace,” she said, raising her chin a little more, determined not to let his proximity, and his heat, shake her. “But I will accept this burden so long as I am able to care for William.”
“Burden,” he repeated. “To be a duchess.”
“To be married to you.” She reached up and planted both hands on his chest, pushing him back. “When you are overbearing, arrogant, and—”
A small, thin cry interrupted her flurry of insults. She paused, her hands still braced against the duke’s chest, as she listened. A second wail followed the first, and she dropped her hands, argument forgotten.
William had awoken.
She hurried up the stairs to her bedchamber, not even considering the fact that the duke was right on her heels.
William lay in his crib, swaddled in white, his face red and screwed up with displeasure.
The nursemaid had emerged from the small room adjoining this one, but at the sight of Jessamine, she stepped back.
Jessamine scooped the small boy into her arms and cradled him close. “There now,” she soothed, swaying gently. “There now, my beautiful boy. Are you upset? I’m here. I’ll always be here.”
The duke watched her, offering nothing, but also without criticism. There could be worse things, she realized. For all her anger, he had not yet attempted to change how she approached William’s care.
Eventually, the boy settled, and Jessamine called for the nursemaid to nurse him in case he was hungry.
“It has been a few hours since his last feed, I think,” she said, glancing at the clock.
“Of course, miss.” The nursemaid held out her arms, and Jessamine placed a now-quiet William into them.
She beckoned for the duke to follow her back down the stairs and into the drawing room.
He pursed his lips. “I still dislike the fact that more people know you’re here.
You must be careful, Lady Jessamine. If not for your sake, then for William’s.
I am crafting a story to assure his legitimacy in the eyes of the ton, but if anyone discovers him to be here with you, then it will call everything into question. ”
Jessamine’s temper quietened a little. “I understand. I can be discreet, you know. I have had to be most of my life, thanks to my father.”
At the mention of her father, the duke’s frown grew more pronounced. “Would that I had nothing to do with him,” he muttered, and shook his head. “You may not wish to obey me, but as my wife, you will be expected to adhere to a certain level of behavior, and I will hold you accountable.”
“You may not order me around, Your Grace!”
“That is precisely what I can do.” He loomed over her, eyes piercing.
“I hope not to have to, and I hope you will have more sense than to open us both up to public ridicule, but should you make the attempt for any misguided reason, then I will use my authority. Do you understand? I will not trifle with William’s future. ”
His gaze bored into hers, but there was the spark of something hot that grew when she returned his glare and folded her arms.
“I do not operate well under misplaced authority, sir.” She raised her chin, and for a frightening, giddy, almost desperate moment, she thought he might kiss her. Her pulse beat suddenly, traitorously, and she drew a deep breath to control it. “You would do well to remember it.”
He snarled something that felt more like a furious growl than anything involving words, and stalked from the room.
Andrew scowled at Nicholas, sitting opposite him with five cards neatly splayed in his hands. “You are not helping.”
“On the contrary, my dear fellow, I think I am doing admirably.” Nicholas Green, the Marquess of Mirthby, played a jack. “You have chosen a bride. I am merely suggesting what to do with her.”
“I am not going to do anything with her. She will be the mother of my ward.”
“Yes, yes, how very honorable. But this is the first time you have been back in Society since…” Nicholas raised a brow. “Tell me, dear friend, how long has it been?”
Andrew grunted.
Years.
His father had ensured that he would not easily escape the shackles he’d been placed in, and in many ways, he didn’t mind.
The army was not an easy place to live, but it was also rewarding, and he had done well for himself.
If he had not left, he would have become captain, and he had spent some time in small villages and the like where he’d been stationed.
Only London, and the Society that came with it, had been utterly out of his reach.
“Years of nothing but camp followers,” Nicholas said pointedly, referring to the women who followed army regiments, offering services both domestic and otherwise.
Andrew had found one particular woman and decided to pay for her exclusivity, as he wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t contract a disease from a woman who took on a few too many clients. Maria had been her name, but their nights were purely transactional. Nothing more.
“Now you will have a wife,” Nicholas continued. “And, having seen her, I can confirm she is a beauty.”
Andrew’s scowl grew even more pronounced.
Jessamine was pretty, or more correctly, beautiful, but it was not her beauty that would make it harder for him to keep his distance.
No, it was the stubbornness in the set of her mouth—and the flash of challenge in her eyes—that refused to leave his mind.
Which would perhaps make it harder for him to keep his distance.
“No matter Lady Jessamine’s physical appeal or lack of it, that is not the purpose of my marriage.”
“That is rarely the purpose of marriage for people like us, but that does not prevent it from being a rather definite positive. You may as well take the advantages where they fall. Unless you are on the hunt for a mistress instead?” His friend grinned.
“You have been out of London for some time, but I can furnish you with some recommendations if you—”
“No.”
“Are you quite sure?”
“Completely.” Andrew glared at his friend. “And I’m rethinking your invitation to the wedding.”
“Can’t do that, old chap. You’re stuck with me.
Besides, I imagine the new duke taking a bride will be the object of some speculation.
Unless, of course, you happened to have someone actively turning away the curious.
” Nicholas brushed invisible lint from his sleeves.
“A good friend might be tempted to do you such a favor, if you were to ask.”
And that was why Andrew and Nicholas had remained friends for so long. Although Nicholas liked the finer things in life—wine, women, and cards—he somehow knew exactly what people needed, and he offered his services to do it, in a roundabout way.
If it were not for Nicholas, Andrew knew the church would be full of curious faces staring at them. But with Nicholas present, the church would only have the people Andrew could not avoid inviting. Namely, his bride-to-be’s family.
“Thank you,” he said gruffly.
“Say nothing of it. Another round, then? Let us drink until the sun comes up and toast to your future.” He poured another glass and raised it to Andrew. “To your wedding, and all that may come after.” He waggled his brows.
Andrew rolled his eyes, but he raised his glass to Nicholas and tapped it with a definitive clink, wondering just what his marriage would entail.